By Jerry Jordan, Editor
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell opened championship weekend Friday with his annual State of the Sport address at Homestead-Miami Speedway and gave the morning a theme he returned to again and again.
“So as we talk about 2026, I would say what’s the theme, and I know I’ll get asked, what do you think, and what I would say is NASCAR has encouraging momentum, but we have work to do,” O’Donnell said. “The five-year plan of where we’re going hasn’t been something we’ve focused on as an industry. That’s all changed and we’re coming together to work together to really grow this sport.”
The numbers he brought with him support what he said about NASCAR’s growth. Admissions are up 5 percent this season and interest among fans aged 18 to 34 is at its highest level since 2013. That is a strong increase from recent years. Social media impressions are up 34 percent year over year on fewer posts. Cup Series races are now being aired in more than 185 countries in 25 languages. The work ahead, he said, runs through a five-year blueprint built on five pillars: competition, audience growth and engagement, schedule and media strategy, international and at-track fan development. It’s the international part that appears to have the longest road.
Racing Abroad Is A Question Of How, Not If
When asked by Kickin’ the Tires whether NASCAR, for all its talk of international growth, had a concept it could put forward for taking a race abroad, O’Donnell said the work has started and the sport has hired for it. NASCAR brought in Adam Layton as the new senior vice president of NASCAR International. He headed international development for the UFC. NASCAR is also benefitting from the work done by executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Scott Prime, to build a market rather than visit one.
“We don’t want to just go somewhere for the sake of going somewhere,” O’Donnell said. “So we hired Adam from the UFC who headed up all their international development, and Scott Prime. So if we take a race somewhere, we want to make sure that we’re not just in and out, maybe collecting a fee for the teams in NASCAR and what have we done? Have we brought any new sponsors? OEMs? New fans? So it’s important for us to go into a marketplace, develop some fans, be in a local market, maybe bring some drivers in, be in the bars, whatever that may be, so they understand what NASCAR is when we go over. That work is starting, and I think the good news is there is a ton of interest. If you go to Europe especially, people love the way we race, so I think they would take the way we race versus others when you see some of the complaints at times.
“When I go over to Europe they can’t wait to see NASCAR’s style of racing. So there’s opportunities there, but we want to make the right move, because ultimately it’s got to benefit everybody here as well and grow kind of that whole pie.”
Pressed on a timeline, O’Donnell would not give one but he ruled out soon.
“I wouldn’t put one (a date) on it but I would say it’s not imminent,” O’Donnell said. “I would say the next couple years before we would do something like that.”
No Gen 8 On The Horizon
When asked about the future of the current Cup Series car and the potential for a new Gen 8 version, O’Donnell said NASCAR is committed to the Next Gen car.
“Well, let’s look at this industry and why we went to this car,” O’Donnell said. “We were on a pathway where there was very limited ownership. Teams were car manufacturers. There were no new OEMs that came into the sport. There were no conversations. In fact, it was the opposite. If you guys don’t do anything, we’re not sure this is sustainable. So I think it’s important to go back and look at the Next-Gen car and why it was put together. You have a different model. You have many new owners that have come into the sport. You have an ownership landscape that is much healthier than it was before. You have Dodge entering the sport. You have other OEMs who are looking at it. You have pretty good racing. The facts when you look at those compared to other sports are pretty strong. So I think it’s important to look at what changes can you tweak along the way. But for us, we want a sustainable model for the industry.
“A Gen 8 or a Next-Gen car comes with all kinds of costs and all kinds of different things, so I’m confident in our guys and the industry and the OEMs to tweak what we have where necessary, but also be pretty confident in our drivers going out there and having the ability to go win races and put on some pretty darned good competition.”
Horsepower, a topic all season, remains undecided for next year. Despite an increase this year, there remains a cry from fans for more. However, there is an argument that more horsepower doesn’t make better racing. And having more horsepower without car control, strong racing and a competitive field doesn’t help anyone.
“Still ongoing,” O’Donnell said. “John (Probst) would shoot me, Probst, if I committed either way. So would some of our OEM partners that are here. I think it’s certainly a topic that we’re looking at. But as with anything, it’s not just increase horsepower and everything will be great. You’ve got to look at some other aspects. There are brake challenges, different things that go with that. So ongoing discussion, but no decisions yet for next year.”
New Markets At Home And A Fifth OEM Someday
NASCAR’s expansion to new tracks and locations is moving along well in the U.S. The San Diego race at Naval Base Coronado this year opened a template NASCAR is scouting elsewhere, with Julie Giese, officially the track president of the Chicago Street Course (unofficially viewed as one of the greatest track presidents in NASCAR history) traveling the country looking at new possibilities. O’Donnell said The CW partnership gives NASCAR a way to test a new market with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series before committing Cup to it. It also opens up the possibility of mid-week races.
“Do we have anything imminent to announce today? No,” O’Donnell said. “But there are some really strong possibilities, especially as you look around kind of that military base concept. Really a benefit to NASCAR where we’ve lucked out a little bit is if you look at some possibilities of where we could race similar to San Diego, it matches up in places that we potentially are not and we can attract new fans. So I’d say that’s one avenue.”
The CW talks have also opened a door that FOX once kept closed.
“CW is working on some of that midweek, and the opportunity for maybe a midweek race is a possibility,” O’Donnell said.
Asked when the next manufacturer announcement might follow Dodge’s return, five days after that news, O’Donnell said the door Dodge drove through is open to others, with a warning attached about how a newcomer has to enter. Sources have told Kickin’ the Tires that interest has come from multiple manufacturers. In the past that included Kia Motor Company but there were also rumors of Honda and Hyundai.
“Here’s the good news is we have – through the car, through the engine cooperation, I think we’ve opened some possibilities for others to take a look at NASCAR who otherwise may not have done that,” O’Donnell said. “But I’ll say this: Any new OEM that comes in – John Probst and I learned this when we went over to Australia and looked at the V-8 series about what should we do with the Next-Gen car engines, and the biggest learning was be careful what you do because if you make too many changes for a new OEM and you hurt the folks who have brought you to the dance, that’s not good.
“So we want to make sure that our partners who have been with us the longest are in a good place, believe in the sport, believe in where we’re going, and embrace the new partners, but they’ve got to come in the right way and go show case it on the racetrack and compete. But it’s going to be fun seeing what Dodge does. We’re going to be all around the globe looking at new OEMs for sure, but happy that we got a fourth.”
Cost Cap Studied, Chase Endorsed, Finale Unsettled
A cost cap, the subject of years of talk between NASCAR and its teams, remains in the “study” phase. O’Donnell said the strongest argument for one is what it did for team values in Formula 1 and that NASCAR has done extensive work on what a cap could look like but not all owners are on board.
“The biggest reason you would do it in my opinion would be that team valuation would go up,” O’Donnell said. “You’ve seen that, right, with Formula 1. I don’t have anything to announce today. I will say it is part of the discussions with the teams. But I would not say that everyone is aligned in terms of it happening.”
On bringing the Chase back this season after years of elimination formats, O’Donnell said the industry got what it set out to build and pointed to the single driver left standing at the top of the standings as the proof. That was Kyle Larson, who has had one of the strongest final 10-race runs in NASCAR history.
“My opinion is all that has happened,” O’Donnell said. “Kyle Larson has gone on an historic run right now and deserves to be talked about.”
The other big question lingering in the room was the fate of NASCAR Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Although the series never left the NASCAR-owned facility, attendance at the dates since the championship was last decided there in 2019 has been lacking. Additionally, the move to Phoenix Raceway, to many, didn’t “feel like a championship weekend.” O’Donnell confirmed what everyone already knew, the sport was coming back next year to decide who would reign atop each series but he didn’t indicate how long that would last.
“So too soon to tell,” O’Donnell said. “We’ll be back here next year but I think beyond that we’re still looking at what are the other possibilities.”
There have been numerous rumors of where NASCAR might try including Las Vegas Motor Speedway or a return to Phoenix.